Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 Swing Dancing: How Dance Effectiveness May Influence Music Preference Michael Strickland Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC SWING DANCING: HOW DANCE EFFECTIVENESS MAY INFLUENCE MUSIC PREFERENCE By MICHAEL STRICKLAND A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2014 ©2014 Michael Strickland Michael Strickland defended this thesis on November 10, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: Brian Gaber Professor Directing Thesis John Geringer Committee Member Kimberly VanWeelden Committee Member Frank Gunderson Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that this thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to my God for breath and life who gave me my wife, Rebecca Strickland who is my co- laborer in life and research and my joy and gift in this world. Thanks to my kids Elias and Lily for patiently waiting on dad and for traveling with mommy and daddy across the country to research this thesis. Thanks to my editors, Dr. Gary Kelm and Sandra Bennage, for catching all my grammar goofs. Thanks to Professor Gaber, my major professor for listening so long to my ideas, and guiding and keeping me on track. And finally thanks to my committee, Dr. VanWeelden, Dr. Geringer, and Dr. Gunderson, for bringing all their bountiful expertise and guidance to a subject I have loved so much. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vii Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 Purpose of Thesis ..................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO - HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................... 3 The Historical Relationship of Jazz Music and Dance .................................................................... 3 A Brief History of the Revival of Swing Dancing in America (1980-present) .................................... 4 What is Swing? ......................................................................................................................... 7 Relevant Attributes of Swing Music ............................................................................................. 8 Cultural, Socioeconomic and other Potential Influences in the Modern Era ................................... 10 The Case for Dance Effectiveness and Music Preference ............................................................. 13 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER THREE - DISCUSSION OF PRESENT DAY LINDY HOP EVENTS ......................................... 16 The Modern Ballroom versus the Historical Ballroom .................................................................. 16 Modern Lindy Hop Terminology – Glossary (ordered by category) ............................................... 23 CHAPTER FOUR - STUDY 1 - QUALITATIVE STUDY OF TRADITIONAL JAZZ MUSICIANS ................... 28 The Case for the Study of Musician and Dancer Inter-Relationships ............................................. 28 Overview of Interview Questions .............................................................................................. 29 Participants ............................................................................................................................ 32 Textual Analysis and Discussion of Responses ........................................................................... 32 Qualitative Summary ............................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER FIVE - STUDY 2 - PROCEDURE FOR QUANTITATIVE STUDY ............................................ 56 The Need for a Baseline .......................................................................................................... 56 Review of Purposes and Research Questions ............................................................................. 59 Method .................................................................................................................................. 59 Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 65 Analysis of Data ...................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER SIX - QUANTITATIVE RESULTS AND ANALYSIS .............................................................. 70 Part A - Demographic Survey Results and Analysis ..................................................................... 70 Part B – Individual Dance Ratings Results ................................................................................. 79 CHAPTER SEVEN - DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 83 Describing the Lindy Hop Community ....................................................................................... 83 iv Discussion of the Individual Dance Ratings ............................................................................... 86 The Effect of Demographics upon Individual Dance Ratings ........................................................ 87 Implications of the Qualitative Study of Musicians ...................................................................... 88 Recommendations for Further Study ........................................................................................ 91 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 93 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 95 A - IRB APPROVAL AND CONSENT FORMS .................................................................................... 95 B - DANCE LOG BOOKLET ......................................................................................................... 100 C - DEMOGRAPHICS QUESTIONS ............................................................................................... 101 D - MUSICIAN’S INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ................................................................................... 103 References ............................................................................................................................... 104 Biographical Sketch .................................................................................................................. 107 v LI ST OF TABLES Table 1 – Variable Names and Likert Scale Ranges ............................................................................ 71 Table 2 – Demographic Characteristics by Event ............................................................................... 71 Table 3 – Counts for Rank in Terms of Importance to your Dancing ................................................... 75 Table 4 - Dance Log Distribution Counts .......................................................................................... 79 Table 5 - Demographic Influences upon Dance Log Ratings ............................................................... 88 vi LI ST OF FI GURES Figure 1 - Starting Year .................................................................................................................. 72 Figure 2 - Level of Expertise ........................................................................................................... 73 Figure 3 - Rank in Terms of Importance to your Dancing ................................................................... 76 Figure 4 - Starting Year by Ranking Categories ................................................................................. 77 Figure 5 - Level of Expertise by Ranking Category ............................................................................. 78 Figure 6 - Dance Log Distributions ................................................................................................... 80 vii ABSTRACT The overall purpose of this study is to establish the baseline for a new line of research into the effective relationship between traditional jazz musicians and swing dancers in current social dancing environments. The study is a mixed-method study utilizing a qualitative study to understand and describe the values and performance practices of musicians who play for swing dancing plus a quantitative study to examine the preferences and behaviors of dancers. The study gathered data at four different Lindy Hop swing dance events throughout the Eastern United States. Part A of the quantitative section of the